Railroad-car spring



H. WATERMAN.

Car Spring. N0. 19,219. Patented Jan. 26, 1858.

AM. PHDTO-LITHO.CD. N-Y-(OSBORN E'S PROCESS.)

UTE earns) HENRY YVATERMAN, OF HUDSON, NEW YORK.

RAILROAD-CAR SPRING.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 19,219, dated January 26, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY VVATERMAN, of Hudson, in the county of Columbia and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Constructing and Applying Leaf-Springs for Railway- Cars; and I do hereby set forth and ascertain said improvement, referring to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 illustrates the common leaf springs used on railway trucks. Fig. 2, is a side elevation of my improved spring. Fig. 3, is a section showing the details of attachment, &c. Fig. 4: is a section enlarged illustrating the end bearing of a spring on my plan.

It is important to the durability of the track, and also to the rolling stock of a rail road, that the cars should be borne on an elastic medium, or spring, the strength of which, and its elasticity, may be adjusted with facility to the conditions of the track, and the weight of the load to be carried; if the spring is too stiff it fails to be the elastic medium required, if too weak it will either be broken or set down to a solid bearing and cease to be useful. The importance of these observations are apparent when it is determined that the destruction of the track, and the rolling stock, are chiefly caused by continued vibrations, shocks and concussions which are known to increase in force about in proportion to the squares of velocity. At the present high rate of speed this has proved a difliculty in practical rail way operations limiting the maximum of speed and economy much below a desirable point.

The ordinary leaf spring is generally, if not always, made with two, three, or more long leaves, with a series of additional leaves each successively shorter than the preceding one; these after being set or fitted are bound together by a permanent band around the middle, to hold which band and the leaves together in place, it is necessary in all cases to perforate them, and pass a bolt or rivet through, by which they are bound in proper position. The purpose of the shortened and graduated leaves is to give the spring the necessary strength to carry the load that is made to bear upon the middle of it. The labor of making this spring is about equal in cost to the material. Its accurate strength can not be determined by the weight of the steelowing to the difficulties in constructing and fitting the leaves togetherthe heating and forging being found in practice to very much vary the stiffness in steel of equal weight, take from the same lot. It is so difiicult to di minish or add to the strength of these springs that it is seldom attempted, so that cars are often times suffered to run for years with their springs improperly adjusted to their requirements.

The object of my improved construction is to make an economical, elastic, strong, and adjustable spring, experiment having shown that it requires a much less quantity of steel than the ordinary spring above described to perform the same labor.

Fig. 3, of the drawing displays the leaves a, a, that compose my spring; 6 is a bearing piece, which I denominate a distributer, upon which the spring rests, the distributer being rigid to support the spring and its load at two determined points between the end bearings and its center. 0, is the axle box and (Z, d, are the end bearings. I form the leaves of my spring of bars of steel of equal length, breadth and thickness; although the thickness, &c.,might vary without changing the principle, of taking the steel bars just as they are manufactured, and cutting them to the proper length without other forming or preparation. These leaves I place in position together, as seen in Figs. 2, 3, 4, their two outer ends resting against the bearings (Z, (1, these bearings are properly shaped iron castings, the bottom of which is flat to form the bearing of the spring, and the upper side is curved into the segment of a circle, which fits into a socket permanently afiixed to the truck frame. The length of this end bearing should be so proportioned as to turn with, and rest, without slipping on, the spring leaves as they are bent by the load. A pin may be passed through each of these bearings d to attach it to the socket. The distributer b should be in length about one half that of the leaves and its points of support about midway be tween the middle and ends of the leaves. By this means the weight is so distributed as to produce a uniform deflection throughout the whole length of the leaves bending them into the segment of a circle which enables me to effect my principal objects namely forming the leaves of equal lengths with the least amount of labor and cost, and so placing and holding them between the jaws of the pedestal and sockets as to require no fastening, so as to be able to adjust their strength, by increasing or diminishing their number, with the greatest facility, to the conditions required.

Having thus fully described my improved car spring; What I claim therein as new, and for Which I desire to secure Letters Patent is,

The combination of a series of bars or leaves of steel as above specified, with the end bearings cl, (Z, and distributer b or their 10 equivalents substantially in the manner set forth.

HENRY WATERMAN. WVitnesses:

V. H. STANsBURY, lVM. FILLEY. 

